When it
comes to manufacturing jewellery and silverware, precious metals (silver,
palladium, gold and platinum) are rarely used in their purest form. Instead
they are usually alloyed with lesser metals to achieve a desired strength,
durability, and colour.

It is not
possible to detect the precious metal content of an item by sight or by touch.
It is, therefore, a legal requirement to have items consisting of silver,
palladium, gold or platinum independently tested and then hallmarked before
they can be described as such. Items must bear a hallmark at point of
sale, subject to the following weight exemptions:

Ophir
Jewellery is registered with the Edinburgh Assay Office, ensuring our precious
metal jewellery is compliant with the UK’s hallmarking regulations. All stock
is subject to an internal confirmation process to ensure it meets the UK’s
hallmarking regulations before it is dispatched to our customers.

For articles
that are below the UK hallmarking Act’s mandatory weight for hallmarking Ophir
Jewellery operates a
separate due diligence process which involves periodic voluntary testing of
items that fall below the mandatory weight to ensure they meet the minimum
fineness requirement.

We are an Assay Assured Jewellery Retailer. Assay Assured status is only given to
retailers who have been independently audited and verified by Assay Assured
which is run and overseen by the Edinburgh Assay Office, and ensures that all
precious metal jewellery (except items exempt by weight) are independently
tested and hallmarked.